Chapter Twenty Nine: Final Straw

I rubbed my eyes and sat down on a bench not far from the treasury. I had just left, unable to watch the others keep searching for the Arkenstone needlessly when it was still tucked up in Thorin's unused room.

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a lavender stock and held it to my nose with a deep breath. The scent calmed my mind. I leaned my head back against the wall, smelled it one more time and then closed my eyes to relax for a few moments.

"Lydia, why aren't you down there searching?!"

My eyes flew open and I stood up, tucking my hands behind my back as Thorin came whipping around the corner with a wild look in his eyes. He noticed that my hands were behind my back as well and that got him even more riled up.

"What are you hiding from me? Show me what's in your hands right now!" he ordered, raising his voice at me.

My back bone stiffened in fear and I slowly brought my hand out in front of me. I opened it up and there sat the crumbled up purple flowers. He squinted at it for a second then raised his blood shot eyes to me confused.

"What is that?"

"Lavender from Beorn's home. He picked a bunch for me and it's in the soap he gave me as well."

"Why are you carrying it with you?"

"It smells like my childhood home, my mom would grow lavender and dry it, so our house always smelled like it. I don't have a lot left from Beorn's but I'm hoping wherever I end up I can grow more. I hope I find something here that I can also bring with me to grow, so I can remember what I've learned on this crazy journey."

"Something to grow? Certainly a treasure would make a better memento."

"Treasure doesn't do much. It just sits there and gets covered in dust. Trees and flowers and food serve a purpose and keeps me connected to the land. It makes me feel like I'm at home and boy, would I feel grateful to feel like someplace is home again."

I felt the haze between us start to rise. He reached down and took my hand into his. "Remember Lydia, no one wants you to leave. If you want to grow a garden here you could! I would like for Erebor to feel like home to you as much as it does for me."

His soft words of kindness nearly made me choke up. Seeing a glint of Thorin again made relief wash over my entire body. I tucked the lavender into my pocket then held onto his arms, looking into his eyes.

"Thorin, I would consider staying but you haven't been here with us. You miss out on meals with the other dwarves and I. They're celebrating being home and you're not there. You leave me to sleep by myself in the cold of your old room. Do you know how much you're missing while you've been consumed in the search for the stone?" I asked.

He furrowed his eyebrows at me. "I…I don't think I did. I know I've been focused on the Arkenstone but…has it really been that long since we've slept in the same bed?" He seemed genuinely confused.

"It's been over a week," I responded, wiping my eyes. "I've missed you Thorin…"

"I'm so sorry Lydia, I didn't realize!" He took my face into his hands and kissed the tears off my cheeks before kissing my lips. I instantly melted in his hands. "Will you ever forgive me for being so neglectful of you?"

"I will, if you sleep in the bed tonight."

While it seemed like his mind was clear I was going to take the opportunity to try and convince him to leave Erebor for at least a little bit so he could realize what was happening to him. So I leaned out of his reach and looked up into his eyes, but then was interrupted.

Dwalin came up behind us and said, "Thorin, survivors from Laketown. They are streaming into Dale. There's hundreds of them."

I saw his expression darken and harden and he turned away from me. I knew in such a quick instant he was lost to me again. "Call everyone to the gate. Now."

They both turned and left. Dwalin looked back at me, wanting me to follow them but my feet stayed planted. I was just so exhausted from being around Thorin when he was like that, I needed a moment to pull it together before joining them at the front gate.

When I gained back some courage, I drug my feet all the way through the halls and up the stairs. I had been so in awe of Erebor when we first arrived, with how grand it was. It had started to feel like a cage though. Perhaps dwarf kings of the past made it feel so large so it didn't feel like a confined cage of their own making. I felt it though, no matter how large and grand it was.

When I got over to the front gate, I didn't know what I was expecting everyone to be doing to prepare for the survivors of Laketown, but what I saw was no one near in my mind. The dwarves were blocking off the front entrance where Smaug had broken through.

Thorin ordered from the edge of the wall, "I want this fortress made safe by sun up. This mountain was hard won, I will not see it taken again."

I stood up on the stairs in shock, watching them build up a wall in the late hours of the night. Baffled words stuck to the back of my throat.

Kili, in frustration, threw down a rock and turned his angry gaze to Thorin. "The people of Laketown have nothing. They're going to come to us in need. They have lost everything in the fire that we sent their way!"

"Do not tell me what they have lost. I know their hardships well enough. Those who have lived through dragonfire should rejoice. They have much to be grateful for."

Kili hesitated but then felt pressured to get back to work under the heavy gaze of his uncle. I, however, stood there baffled at the new low I was witnessing before me. I knew I needed to do something but I had no clue what I could do to help the men and women of Laketown. I'm sure something would come to me, but at that moment I just had to hope that whatever happened wasn't as bad as what I was expecting…

At the light of dawn I heard the dwarves announce that there was someone coming to the gate. I woke up, having apparently fallen asleep on the stone steps. All the dwarves hid behind the wall in preparation, muttering about…an elvish army in Dale?

I rushed down the stairs and joined them by the wall. They all went on top of the stones with their weapons and a few urged me to go up there since I still had my bow. I refused to point an arrow at them though so I stayed below, watching the others seemingly prepare for a fight.

I recognized Bard's voice as it came from over the wall. "Hail Thorin, son of Thrain! We are glad to find you alive beyond hope."

Thorin skipped right over the pleasantries. "Why do you come to the gates of the King Under the Mountain armed for war?"

"Why does the King Under the Mountain fence himself like you're fending against thieves?" he asked back.

"Perhaps it is because I am expecting to be robbed."

"My lord, we have not come to rob you or anything of the sort, only to seek fair settlement. Will you not speak with me?"

Thorin peered out on the crowd of people then nodded, walking down the wall again and going to the speaking hole. Bard also approached the hole so they could speak one on one, seemingly leader to leader. I think the old Maester of Laketown met his fate during the attack by Smaug, though I didn't have long to enjoy the thought.

Thorin started by saying, "I'm listening. Speak your piece."

"On behalf of the people of Laketown, I ask that you honor your pledge. A share of the treasure so that they might rebuild their lives."

"I will not deal with any man while an armed host lies before my door."

"That armed host will attack this mountain, if we do not come to terms."

"Your threats do not sway me," he scoffed, crossing his arms like a child.

"What of your conscience? Does it not tell you our cause is just?! My people offered you help. And in return you brought upon them only ruin and death!"

"When did the men of Laketown come to our aid, but for the promise of rich reward?!"

"A bargain was struck!"

"A bargain? What choice did we have but to barter our birthright for blankets and food? To ransom our future in exchange for our freedom? You call that a fair trade? Tell me, Bard the Dragonslayer, why should I honor such terms?"

"Because you gave us your word. Does that mean nothing?"

Thorin turned away from the hole and looked to those who stood behind him. He looked tired and for a moment even looked hesitant. For a moment I thought he was actually questioning himself, considering what this decision could mean for all of us. But then his face shifted and he shouted over the wall, "Be gone, ere arrow fly!"

My eyes widened in panic and I saw Bard leave the wall in frustration. I pushed through the dwarves to get to Thorin. "Wait, wait, what did you do?!"

"Defend the integrity of Erebor."

"The integrity of Erebor?! Are you out of your mind, Thorin?! You cannot go to war against them!" I shouted.

He turned away from me to walk away. "This does not concern you."

"Excuse me?!" My anger flared and I planted myself in front of him again. "I might not be a damn dwarf but I deserve to be heard! In case you haven't noticed, there is an army of elves out there ready for battle. And not to mention several hundred angry fishermen. We are outnumbered a hundred times over!"

"Not for much longer," he smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"It means Miss Barlcay you should never underestimate dwarves." He turned to the others. "We have reclaimed Erebor, now we defend it!"

Everyone hurried to the armory to get armor and weapons in preparation for whatever fight Thorin just threw us into. I tried to walk in the opposite direction, especially with how absolutely furious I was at Thorin, but Balin grabbed me and made sure I went with. He said that if we should truly go into battle, it's best that I was prepared for it as well. I went with them but I stood outside the armory, unable to even pretend that I planned on joining them.

The others dug through the dusty armory while I stood outside. My mind raced over what was going to happen if we continued on this path. I didn't know what Thorin had up his sleeve but it was hard to picture a future where the dwarves, the people I had become close with during this journey, don't end up either imprisoned or killed. I felt completely powerless…

"Lydia, come here." I looked over and saw Thorin, fully suited up already, coming out of the armory holding something. I leaned off the wall and met him halfway. There in his hands was a silvery chainmail. "You are going to need this. Put it on."

"I don't think-"

"Settle my mind then so I can worry less about you." I shrugged my shoulders and removed my coat so I could try it on. "This vest is made of silver steel. 'Mithril' as it was called by my forebears. No blade can pierce it."

He held it up so it could easily slide over my head and hair. My shoulder still gave me a little discomfort but most of the pain had faded. I adjusted it a little bit but when I looked down to see how it looked I couldn't help but laugh.

"I suppose these sorts of things were never meant for hobbits. I look like a child trying to wear their parents' clothes."

"It is a gift that will help keep you safe. Consider it as a token of our," he looked to the others then turned back to me, "friendship. True friends that I trust entirely are hard to come by." He took my shoulder and we moved further away from the armory. "I have been blind. Now I begin to see. I am betrayed."

My heart traveled up into my throat. "Betrayed?"

He whispered, "The Arkenstone. One of them has taken it." Knowing he wasn't onto me I let out a tight breath. "One of them is false."

"Thorin, we have taken back the mountain. You are king and no one is questioning it. The quest is complete."

He seemed to entirely ignore me. "Betrayed by my own kin…"

I grabbed his chin and made his eyes meet mine. "Thorin, hear my words. You made a promise to the people of Laketown. If you insist on not helping them out of the good of your heart then you should at least repay it for the sake of your own honor. The treasure is not worth more than those peoples' lives and I know that you know that."

"I love your soft heart Lydia, but the treasure in this mountain does not belong to the people of Laketown! This gold is ours and…ours alone." His voice grew deeper and he spoke slower. "By my life I will not part with a single coin. Not one piece of it!"

I felt a rush of dragon fire all over my body, hearing Smaug in the back of my mind as Thorin quoted him word for word. I felt so far away from him, there was no part of Thorin that was present when those words came out of his mouth.

The dwarves came out of the armory dressed for battle and they marched down the hall between us. I'm sure most of them did not want to go into this fight, but needed to do as their king ordered either way. Certainly they knew they would die.

I was at the end of my rope. Thorin's sickness had gotten so much worse in such a short amount of time. If I was going to try and keep the dwarves from war, I was going to have to do something drastic. I did have a tiny bit of leverage so I was going to have to use it, even if it would sever my relationship with Thorin permanently.